Sharing the great outdoors

Visitor Center fully staffed, ready to serve tourists

Craig  After 30 years of making his office inside a yellow Caterpillar, Terry Carwile, recently retired Trapper Mine foreman, plans to start his first desk job Wednesday.

Carwile will follow the footsteps of Ned Miller and assume the sportsman's information specialist desk at the Moffat County Visitor Center.

His attraction to Moffat County is deep-seated.

Perhaps better known as one of the brain trusts on the Craig City Council - often delving into subjects such as severance taxes and federal mineral leases - Carwile has been a hunter, fisherman, cyclist and runner during his 14 years in Moffat County.

"The recreational opportunities around the county are just so huge," Carwile said, "whether it be birding, fishing, hiking or hunting or running."

He recalled memories of traversing the Moffat backcountry with friends on bicycles.

"Tom (Gilchrist) and I discovered a beautiful day ride out around Maybell last summer," Carwile said. "I had 110 miles on my bike that day."

He added he and Gilchrist did the Triple Bypass a few times, also. That bike run takes racers over three mountain passes toward Aspen.

Carwile's exuberance for his bike comes out of his attraction to the land.

"The countryside looks different at 15 miles per hour than at 65," he said.

Carwile said he hopes he can live up to the demands of his new job, which is part time for most of the year but full time during hunting season.

"I have always thought it was a very valuable position for the community," he said. "As time goes on, and people discover all the things you can do in Moffat County, the attention will grow."

To start, after overcoming the office learning curve, Carwile said, he plans to prepare for hunting season by visiting some old comrades.

"I think I'm probably going to go and talk to my old hunting buddies around here," he said. "Make sure I'm aware of not only where the animals have been, but also the ways to get out to them."

Also starting recently at the Visitor Center, Judy Kostur and Christine Anthony are the first faces visitors see when they walk through the Visitor Center door, and both are long-time Moffat County residents.

Kostur - also known as the sports grandma because of all her children's and grandchildren's accomplishments on too many courts to name - said she loves her new job as one half of the Visitor Center's information specialist tandem.

Both are tasked with providing any and all information and/or contacts to visitors and tourists and business people that call with an array of questions.

"I love it," she said. "I love the interaction with all the people. Everyone that comes in here is happy people."

Anthony said she's glad to be in a place where every day is different.

"Dealing with different people, the folks coming off the street, whether they're from here or from out of state," she said. "All the people just trying to find out what's going on, what they can do in this part of the world.

"This one is something different everyday."

Christina Currie, Craig Chamber of Commerce executive director, said the new staff will "finally" have the Chamber hitting on all cylinders.

Carwile "is really hitting the ground faster than running," she said. "And (Anthony) and (Kostur) have been so great to have here."

This is the first time in a long time the Chamber has been fully staffed to meet the demands of thousands of information requests per year.

"Once we get through the learning curve," Currie said, "we'll have a pretty well-oiled machine. Just in time for hunting season."